Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1887-11-04
DEEP.wATER Moysrn
1'eculiarities ofwhales n.so.,
Hunter a
Detroit Free Prose ,

VI oed by a
detroit Free Press,
The whale is, without o,,o.n
very largest animal in attIIs s
There rear are several varieties, ,Da an, W
OF them attain immense al; ana
common, or right whale SIZE;
while not /, SO SC large, is m orsm Nv
because of its oil and bone. ' ~ val
excels all others in its tinon ane qa
finback whale is the most Sn 1sS
and less valuable than the o plnsse
there are, so far as 1 have lo, u,ne1s
three varieties of these mo ss,ned
inhabitants. The size of the '' uGa3
generally spoken of, and is no saaI
correct, Some represent a., Do u al
enormous length. Some less 'i ne
to the marvellous say they neS ye INC
a hundred feet, but my eyner No, sS
from both seeing and inoni 1I'rleaa
whalemen, that a right whala 80 o.
ceeas one hundred feet in Length
sperm whale about ninety feet NJ ~
tinback never over seventy.fiva' u an
never witnessed a whale measn,D lsg
1 have seen many of each kind
certain that sixty feet is GOOD a..
The whale, when disportine ~ NAVE AVE.
sea surface, gives the imprpes srou
the fish is Of immense proport;on,
upon getting near and measl,riM ,Vu'
the eye carefully it is plain to Is
that, seldom, indeed, are thew ov va
feet. 1t is the foundering mann
which they swim that makes tha
perienced think the proportion,
great.
The whale is, of all other AMI,
singularly constructed. The mau1
Of peculiar structure, and when on
it is fully six to nine feet wide
right whale there are no teeth bDt
as the animal is the gullet, Or ii
is not two inches wide. From mi
row formation of the throat it na
implied that its food is of q veyri
utive kind. Such is really the Id
it derives it's food, or subsistence
the millions of the small inhabtal
the deep ocean.
The method by which whaleneI
tinguish the variety Of the whale
the spout. The common. or
has two spout holes,. while the
has but one. The finback has on!
but its spout is in the front OF the
while the others are considerable
the body. The difference is ais
planned by the manner in which /
spout the water. Only the sperm
has teeth, and these are in the
jaw and in two rows.
The whale is seldom met with
ocean, or, rather, in tropical lati1
but in the extreme north as well
extreme south ocean, they are ty
great numbers. 1 do not prop
say anything about the capturiH
cutting up and taking in on toa
the whale, as I never was ensag
this kind Of duty, but will add I'll
life of whaleman is, or was. one
most dangerous, and, at the same
most exciting professions imagiI
Only in sliilful hands can be AZ
the destruction Of man and boat
sometimes, indeed, of the shin is
l once when near the Talkla,I
lands witnessed a square fight be
five boats crews of the whald
Monsoon, Of Newburrport, ana .
Of sperm whales. Only that
became so dangerous preventedu
seeing it out. The whales hyA
had smashed to atoms two of The
when we deemed it prudent to Sd
some distance; but the whalemd
afterward we met, conquered
secured no less than seven OF
sized spermaceti whales and fortu
lost none of the crew.
The Captain of the whaler Gar
signaled to us to leave the VII
ground, fearing the whales nigh
us blow with their tlukes, as he
the old "bulls" were desperately
We left not because of the sigma
we did not understand it-but be-
the place was "too hot" as Ca
Baker remarked. When whal
comes furious from an attack
defending itself from the mi
Gus harpoon of the whalemen-any
always mean business-the whale
to the bottom or down q great
coming on and up in perpend
manner in the water. Its bulky
will rise up high in the air, WI
huge jaw, wide and shaft-like, oId
ponderous hukes Tapping and SD
the water into q white foam. JUS
it is best to be as far off as ii IS
venient to get, unless you are en-
for the war. The scene, as viewed
the deck OF the Montezuma, was
if not appalling. 1t was, indeed
nautical tournament, a tilt DetWeel
and Gods greatest of animal lorna